Stanley J. Weyman
| birth_place = Ludlow, Shropshire | death_date = April | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Novelist | language = | nationality = English | education = Christ Church, Oxford | citizenship = | genre = | notableworks = }} Stanley John Weyman (August 7, 1855 - April 10, 1928) was an English novelist sometimes referred to as the "Prince of Romance". Life Weyman (pronounced "why-man") was born at Ludlow, Shropshire. The second son of a solicitor, he was educated at Shrewsbury School, and at Christ Church, Oxford. He took his degree in modern history in 1877, and was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1881, joining the Oxford circuit. He practised as a barrister for eight years until, in 1889, he wrote his first novel entitled The House of the Wolf. This was followed over the following two decades by the novels which were to make his reputation, among them historical romances set amidst the turmoil of 16th and 17th century France. (His entire output is discussed in the annotated bibliography included in the external links below.) He became a great traveler, sometimes in company with his fellow bestselling novelist Henry Seton Merriman. While for years his best-selling historical romances enchanted thousands of readers — Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde were among his enthusiastic readers — today his books are mostly neglected. Graham Greene was a great admirer of Weyman. He mentions him several times in his Collected Essays.Graham Greene, Collected Essays, London, Vintage, 1999, pp. 13, 14, 157, 161, 163. In a BBC interview in 1970, he said: "I made a collection once of what I called the key books in my life, which included Anthony Hope, Rider Haggard, Captain Gilson,... and I do occasionally re-read them. Stanley Weyman in particular."Graham Greene in Ronald Bryden, "Graham Greene Discusses Collected Edition of His Novels", The Listener, 23 April 1970; reprinted in Henry J. Donaghy, Conversations with Graham Greene, University Press of Mississippi, 1992, p. 85. Publications *''The House of the Wolf'' (1890) *''The King's Stratagem'' (1891) *''The New Rector'' (1891) *''The Story of Francis Cludde'' (1891) *''From the Memoirs of a Minister of France'' (1893) *''A Gentleman of France'' (1893) *''The Man in Black'' (1894) *''My Lady Rotha'' (1894) *''Under the Red Robe'' (1894) (a novel concerning Cardinal Richelieu and the Day of Dupes) *''A Little Wizard'' (1895) *''The Red Cockade'' (1895) *''The Snowball'' (1895) *''For the Cause'' (1897) *''Shrewsbury'' (1897) *''The Castle Inn'' (1898) *''When Love Calls'' (1899) *''Sophia'' (1900) *''Count Hannibal'' (1901) *''In Kings' Byways'' (1902) (short stories) *''The Long Night'' (1903) *''The Abbess of Vlaye'' (1904) *''Starvecrow Farm'' (1905) *''Chippinge Borough'' (1906) *''Laid Up in Lavender'' (1907) (short stories) *''The Wild Geese'' (1908) *''The Great House'' (1919) *''Madam Constantia'' (1919) *''Ovington's Bank'' (1922) (a novel revolving around the Panic of 1825) *''The Traveller in the Fur Cloak'' (1924) *''Queen's Folly'' (1925) *''The Lively Peggy'' (1928) References External links ;Books * *An annotated bibliography ;About *Stanley J. Weyman in the Oxford Companion to Edwardian Fiction. *Stanley J. Weyman Official website.